The Red Army conducted Operation «Mars» on the Rzevsko-Vyazemskiy ledge in November-December 1942. Kalininsky and the Western Fronts were to defeat the 9th Army of Model, which was the basis of the group of armies "Center." At the same time, Operation «Uranus» was carried out near Stalingrad, aimed to destroy the 6th Army of Paulus. Both Soviet offensives had similar objectives and were carried out within the framework of a single planoftheStavkaoftheSovietArmedForceswithapproximatelyequalforces. But if «Uranus» was led to victory, "Mars" failed and for many years almost disappearedfromtheofficialhistoriography.Inthisarticle,theauthorstraced themajormilestonesofthedevelopmentofscientificideasaboutOperation«Mars» and identified the problematic issues of this historical case.